It was a pleasant morning for Troy Aikman last Thursday. Hekissed his bride of one month, Rhonda, goodbye, then played in afriendly fivesome at Preston Trail Golf Club in north Dallas. Hefollowed his round with a lunch of prime rib and trout. The daywould soon get better: Troy and Rhonda would fly to Palm Springsto shop for a vacation home.

A seasoned skeptic, the 33-year-old Aikman has had good reasonto be upbeat of late. Even on the field he's optimistic--aboutthe Cowboys' rebuilt offense, new offensive coordinator JackReilly and recently acquired wide receiver Joey Galloway. "Thisis the most weapons we've had in the passing game in my 12 yearshere," the quarterback says.

That's all well and good, but after Dallas's 24-24regular-season record over the last three years, questionsabound about whether Aikman is fit enough to lead the team backto greatness. His quarterback rating (81.7) ranked a pedestrian12th in the NFL during that stretch, and some of his othernumbers were mediocre as well. Since the start of the 1997season Trent Dilfer has thrown five more touchdown passes thanAikman (53 to 48), and Rich Gannon has the same completionpercentage as the Dallas passer (58.2). In the team's gloryyears from 1992 through '96, during which time the Cowboys wonthree Super Bowls, Aikman completed 65% of his throws, and NorvTurner, the offensive coordinator for the first two of thosetitles, boasted that when Aikman is in a groove, he's the mostaccurate passer ever.

Thus, seeing Aikman struggle for three consecutive years waslike watching Tony Gwynn hit .278. Says one teammate, "At somepoint Troy's got to make some plays to help us win. Last year hewas at fault as much as anyone."

Aikman feels the slings and arrows. He speaks defensively aboutlast season, and in this what-have-you-done-for-me- latelyworld, Aikman knows that he's on trial in 2000. "I know in anylong career there are going to be valleys," he says. "Thechallenge for me is to get out of that valley and get back ontop. I've never been a big numbers guy. Winning has always beenwhat's mattered to me--winning and earning the respect of mypeers and coaches. When you begin to lose that, yeah, itmotivates you. It's a driving force for me."

After a pause he adds, "There's something inside all of uswho've played this long that says, Can you do it as well as youused to? But that's not something I feel a need to prove toothers. I feel a need to prove it to myself. I certainly feel Ican still play at a winning level."

According to one Dallas player, team chemistry was poisoned bythe chill between Aikman and coach Chan Gailey, who was fired inJanuary after two seasons. The player says Gailey stoppedattending quarterback meetings early last season because Aikmanand longtime backup Jason Garrett kept challenging hisplay-calling. Owner Jerry Jones became so peeved at what heconsidered unimaginative play selection that he asked Garrett tosubmit plays to Gailey before the Cowboys' wild-card playoffgame against the Vikings. Garrett, the player said, gave Gaileyeight pages of diagrammed plays that the quarterbacks liked. Notone was called in the 27-10 loss to Minnesota. (Garrett, a freeagent, signed with the Giants in the off-season.)

After the season, when Gailey refused Jones's demand to hire anoffensive coordinator to take over play-calling next fall, Jonesfired him. The owner then promoted defensive coordinator DaveCampo to head coach and hired Reilly, who had served as theCowboys' quarterbacks coach in 1997. Ernie Zampese, who had afour-year run as the club's offensive coordinator in themid-'90s, returns as a consultant. Free agent Paul Justin, areserve with the Rams last season, was signed to back up Aikman,and he brought some of the gospel of St. Louis coach Mike Martzwith him. Dallas's new offense will look much like the Rams' andRedskins' models of '99, the aim being to lighten the load onrunning back Emmitt Smith with a revived passing game. The Ramsmade a habit of throwing to their third and fourth options, andAikman's ability to read coverages will keep every receiver inplay.

By the end of last week Aikman had thrown on about 15 occasionsto his wideout triumvirate of Galloway, Rocket Ismail and JamesMcKnight. "Troy looks exactly the same," says Zampese. "The ballstill comes out of there like a shot. It was strange the firstfew times watching him throw to Galloway. The ball looked late,which isn't like Troy. But it wasn't late. Galloway's just sofast he outran it. They'll learn each other and be fine."

Maybe it's good for the Cowboys that Aikman feels challenged.Even with the acquisition of Galloway (Jones overpaid for him,trading two first-round draft picks to the Seahawks for areceiver who's never proved he can go over the middlerepeatedly), the Cowboys will start the season no better thanthe NFC East's No. 2 team, behind Washington. Dallas is short onSuper Bowl talent, though Jones maintains his team will be inthe hunt as long as Aikman is under center. Wishful thinking?The man on trial doesn't think so.

"I can't leave the game the way I've played, the way we'veplayed, the last few years," Aikman says, "and I won't."

BILLICK STANDS PAT

Banks the Man In Baltimore

The Ravens finished last season a hard-charging 8-8 and seemedonly an offensive player or two away from challenging the Titansand the Jaguars for supremacy in the AFC Central. Baltimoresigned free-agent tight end Shannon Sharpe and used its twofirst-round draft choices on Tennessee running back Jamal Lewisand Florida wideout Travis Taylor. But coach Brian Billick willgo into this season with a pair of question marks at quarterback.

Billick opted to retain Tony Banks, who was erratic in his 10starts last season, as his starter entering training camp and tosign perennially disappointing Trent Dilfer as his backup.Billick likes what he has seen. "Tony's demeanor is 180 degreesdifferent than last year," Billick says. "He's confident,working like a leader, and I've made this point to him: This isthe first time in all his years playing quarterback--throughjunior college, Michigan State, the Rams and the Ravens--thathe's had the same coordinator and quarterbacks coach and systemtwo years in a row. When someone is teaching you how to throw anout pass differently eight years in a row, it's going to show upas inconsistency.

"What sold me on Trent is the fact that he had two 21-touchdownyears playing in a pretty conservative offense. I think he'llprove a lot of people wrong."

DISPATCHES

Watters May Be Out of a Job

Seahawks running back Ricky Watters could become a salary-capcasualty when teams start releasing high-priced veterans on June1. Watters, with his emotional outbursts, hasn't endearedhimself to coach Mike Holmgren. Even if Watters sticks, look forrookie first-round pick Shaun Alexander to cut into his playingtime....

Coach Jeff Fisher, whose contract expires after the 2000 season,and the Titans are miles apart on an extension. Don't besurprised if Fisher hits the open market in January.

COLOR PHOTO: DAMIAN STROHMEYER After steering the Cowboys to three Super Bowl titles in four years, Aikman has run into trouble.

Before he became the premier postseason performer of his generation, the Patriots icon was a middling college quarterback who invited skepticism, even scorn, from fans and his coaches. That was all—and that was everything